Homeless

Oakland Evicts Residents of Union Point Homeless Camp

Published

5 years ago

August 24, 2019

Nicole Kahele and Elijah Marra pose in front of their handmade sign on Aug 20th, shortly before the City of Oakland evicts them from Union Point Park. Kehele is one of for plaintiffs in a lawsuit claiming Mayor Lib¬by Schaaf and the city are violating her 4th, 8th, and 14th amendment rights during evictions. Photo by Zack

Oakland’s Department of Public Works (ODPW) and Oakland’s Police Department (OPD) and Auto Plus Towing evicted at least 20 adults and five children who were living in RVs, campers, and other vehicles in a parking lot in Union Point Park on Tuesday.

“I grew up within a mile radius of here my whole life and I’m a member of this community but they’re trying to shuffle me out of where I’m from,” said Nicole Kahele. “We’re staying in a public park because there’s no affordable housing.”

Kahele is one of four Union Point community members who, after experiencing past evictions, filed a lawsuit claiming the City of Oakland and Mayor Libby Schaaf are violating their fourth, eighth, and 14th amendment rights and that ODPW is not following its own stated policy when it evicts unhoused residents.

“The City is supposed to bag, identify and tag all the property that people want to keep but can’t take with them and store it for free for three months,” said Needa Bee, an unhoused, lifelong Oakland resident who lives outside of Union Point but is helping with the suit. “That has never happened in the three years that I have been following evictions.”

Kahele and the other defendants, all of whom lived at Union Point before the eviction, had filed a restraining order to U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer through their lawyer, Emily Rose Johns, that prevented ODPW from evicting them.

The order also protected other Union Point residents, as the city couldn’t evict some residents while allowing others to stay. But the city successfully challenged and overturned the order while Johns was on vacation and posted eviction notices on Friday, Aug 16, leaving most Union Park residents five days to pack all of their belongings to leave.

The rush to pack was especially difficult for those who have physical limitations and/ or disabilities. Elijah Marra, who was recovering from hernia surgery that he’d had two days before, complained of sharp abdominal pains as he packed his belongings. While he was able to keep his most important belongings, there was much he had to throw away.

Residents whose vehicles didn’t run, like lifelong Oakland resident Dre Nash, had to have them towed and impounded. The City offered some of these residents a single night in a homeless shelter but no one was offered permanent housing. Nash’s RV home and almost all of his belongings are currently in an impound lot and he’s unsure of when or how he can get them back.

Oakland’s assistant city administrator Joe DeVries, who helps to organize and implement the Schaaf’s administrations plans and policies for homelessness, claims that he and the city see eviction as a last resort, but that they’ve received complaints from housed residents, as well as the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the California Coastal Commission.

“It’s tidewater land and it’s protected so it’s really not an appropriate place to have people camping,” said DeVries.

While DeVries claims the encampment was filled with trash and not well kept, those staying at Union Point claim it’s difficult to keep clean when the city doesn’t provide consistent trash service, and that housed residents would have the same issues if they didn’t have weekly trash pickup.

None of the Union Point residents the Oakland Post spoke with wanted to leave the site without being offered another permanent living option and many claimed they felt safe there as they supported each other.

While Union Point’s residents claim that some housed people come by and harass them, some nearby housed residents say they don’t want them forced out.

“They’ve fallen on hard times and everything’s so damn expensive here,” said Douglas Thorn, who’s lived near Union Point for three years. “I think they’re decent people, and I enjoy having them here.”

Zack Haber

Posts by Zack Haber

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.